McGrattan magic helps Kilclief win junior title

McGrattan magic helps Kilclief win junior title

25 October 2023

KILCLIEF were crowned the winners of this year’s Junior Hurling Championship after they overcame East Belfast by a comfortable nine-point margin at Páirc Esler on Sunday.

This final was originally set to take place on Friday, although torrid weather conditions meant it instead acted as the curtain-raiser for the conclusion of the senior competition later that afternoon.

Despite the Belfast outfit netting twice in the opening half, a goal in reply from man of the match Stefán McGrattan helped the eventual champions to a six-point advantage by the break.

Kilclief were clinical in their point scoring throughout, with McGrattan firing over a host of frees, and things were all but sewn up when Fionn McFall rattled the East net deep into the second half.

East may have registered three goals on the day, but points came at a premium and they struggled to gather any momentum for a sustained amount of time.

Kilclief pulled away early in the opening exchanges, boasting a 0-6 to 0-1 lead after just eight minutes thanks to scores from Conor Magee, Eoin Kelly and Conall Magee.

However, East remained in touch when Ryan McMullan gave his team their first major of the afternoon.

The contest saw a brief back and forth scoring affair with Brendan McGarry and Owen Taggart supplying the points for East while McGrattan and Magee split the posts for Kilclief.

East would then find their second goal of the match, this time through full-forward Tony Ferris, which led to their opponents trailing for the first time with 18 minutes played.

Kilclief kept their composure and refused to let this upset their rhythm.

They rattled off four points on the bounce before McGrattan’s rasping effort gave Kilclief the major they were searching for and put them in the driving seat.

East replied with a free from McMullan but the Kilclief side clearly had the momentum.

Half-time: Kilclief 1-13 East Belfast 2-5.

After the interval, Kilclief returned to the pitch with fire in their belly and after McGrattan and Taggart traded frees, the Ben Dearg aces found their groove.

McGrattan and Kelly fired over the bar before team-mate McFall notched a point, and then a goal, to give Kilclief a 13-point lead.

The game was dead and buried at this point but McGrattan continued to chip away at the scoreboard.

Taggart did manage to find the net for East’s third goal of the match, however, it was far too late to make an impact on the result and Kilclief deservedly took the junior crown.

Following the conclusion of the match, star player Stefán McGrattan reflected on his team’s performance.

“It’s absolutely brilliant to win the junior championship,” he said. 

“This was our main objective at the start of the season, we have been training hard all year and it certainly paid off.

“It was definitely a tight first half but we knew we had to bring high intensity into this final to get over the line and every one of the lads played amazingly and stepped up when needed,” he continued. 

“It’s always great to score a goal in a final but that gave us a boost just going into half-time and we knew in the second half we had to perform better and we done just that.

“Although it was very disappointing that the match was originally cancelled on Friday night, it was the right call to make.”

He added: “Sunday was a great day for hurling and the supporters we had cheering us on were amazing, you would have thought there was thousands in there and that’s what it’s all about.”